Every morning, the We Love Baseball crew reviews the Nastiest Pitches from the previous day’s games. If you see something you think should be included here be sure to tweet @PitcherList to let us know. Or, if you’re a PL+ Member and part of our Discord, shout it out in the Nastiest Pitches channel.
Ryan Pepiot’s Changeup
Pepiot dazzled, holding the Angels off the scoreboard until the sixth when Miguel Sanó brought home Mike Trout on a sacrifice fly. The aforementioned former Twins slugger whiffed on a beautifully located changeup from Pepiot in his first at-bat. Pepiot threw the change just nine times (10%) and got one other whiff on it, which also came against Sanó, two pitches before this one.
Emmanuel Clase’s Cutter
With the Guardians ahead of the Red Sox 5-4, Emmanuel Clase didn’t skip a beat and needed only 11 pitches to convert his fifth save. His fourth pitch of the afternoon was this freight train of a cutter that practically handcuffed Jarren Duran, who, despite his best efforts, did not check his swing; he later hit a ground ball to Andrés Giménez for the second out.
Alex Lange’s Curveball
Sure, maybe he’s not the closer anymore, but Alex Lange is still going to be a very important arm out of the pen for Tigers’ skipper AJ Hinch. With the game tied 7-7 and the bases juiced Lange came up huge with two punchouts. His first victim was rookie Wyatt Langford, who fell victim to this trapdoor curveball.
Jack Leiter’s Changeup
Al Leiter’s son had a rough debut, surrendering seven earned runs on eight hits yesterday afternoon in Detroit. However, he made Kerry Carpenter look very confused twice; his first two at-bats ended with him swinging through almost identical 2-2 changeups and looking thoroughly confused. This was his first at-bat.
Logan Webb’s Slider
A free-swinging righty like Randal Grichuk facing a right-hander with exceptional command like Logan Webb seemed like a mismatch. It was. After freezing Grichuk with a sinker for a called third strike in their first encounter, Webb started the rematch by teasing him with this slider just off the outside edge. Good luck, Grichuk.
Kirby Yates‘ Splitter
Five years after leading the majors with 41 saves, Yates looks ready to be a closer again. His signature splitter has looked dynamite so far, returning a 41.9% whiff rate through his first eight games. Colt Keith swung over the top of this one before flying out to center for the second out of the ninth.
Ryan Walker’s Slider
With the Giants ahead 5-0 in the ninth, Walker abused his former teammate, Joc Pederson, with this hellacious slider before getting him to swing through a heater for the final out. This pitch returned a 41.9% whiff rate last season, and I think I can see why.